center for jewish living and learning brochure spring 2012

l i terature

fi lm

art

music

dance

learning

Sum

mer

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2012

8thAnnual

submerge yourself in the 8th annual houston jewish film festival

MARCH 6 - 18

OPENING NIGHT

88

HJFF STAFF:Ariela Emery, ERJCCMarian Luntz, MFAHTamara Savage, HMH

COMMUNITY PARTNERS:Alexander Institute for Inclusion, a Division of JFS Department of Disability ServicesThe American Israel Public Affairs CommitteeAnti-Defamation LeagueCongregation Beth IsraelHolocaust Museum HoustonL’Chaim Center NCJW – Greater Houston SectionUnited Orthodox Synagogues

HOUSTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

elcome to the 8th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival, a collaboration between the ERJCC of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with Holocaust Museum Houston as a longstanding venue.

A big thanks to our dedicated film committee volunteers, who spend dozens of hours screening films to select the best ones from around the world that tell stories of Jewish significance, with poignancy and creativity, and reflect the values that shape Jewish life. This year we are pleased to have three filmmakers and one actor to introduce their films and lead post-screening discussions.

We are grateful to our underwriters, sponsors, community partners, and patrons for their generous support. Enjoy the Festival and spread the word!

Barbara Bronstein, ChairDoreen Joffe and Sharon Kagan, Honorary Chairs

W

2012 FILM COMMITTEE:Karen AptekarNeil AussenbergMargie BeegleNada ChandlerJohn DreyfusJustine FanarofSue GoottPatti HanflingDiane LeeDavid MendelMiriam PachtPaula SiegelStefani TwyfordHelen Wils

Throughout HJFF we will be accepting donations of gently used children’s books. Designated book drop-off screenings are Deaf Jam on March 6, Young Abraham on March 11, and Nicky’s Family on March 16.

KADDISH FOR A FRIEND

(KADDISCH FÜR EINEN FREUND)

Tuesday, March 6 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC

Friday, March 9 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC

Directed by Leo Khasin

Germany, 2011, 94 min.

Arabic, German, Russian with English

Subtitles

Drama

Alexander, an 84 year old widowed

Russian Jewish war veteran living

alone in Berlin, wants to maintain his

independence despite pressures from

social workers to move into a nurs-

ing home. A Palestinian family from

Lebanon occupies a downstairs flat. Ali,

the teenage son in the family, together

with his friends, vandalize and ransack

Alexander’s flat and destroy some of his

most treasured possessions. In order to

avoid deportation, Ali’s family insists he

repair the damage. Slowly, the mutual

disdain each feels for the other turns to

understanding and ultimately friendship

in this coming-of-age film inspired by

two real people.

Sponsored by June & Leonard Goldberg

Patron Sponsors: Helen Wils & Leonard Goldstein

Paula & Irving Pozmantier

DEAF JAM

Wednesday, March 7 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC

Directed by Judy Lieff

USA, 2011, 70 min.

English and American Sign Language

with English Subtitles

Documentary

Aneta Brodski, a deaf Israeli teen, at-

tends a school for the deaf in Queens,

N.Y. where she explores slam poetry

using American Sign Language. Proud

of her deafness but aware of the isola-

tion it brings, Aneta utilizes her unique

experiences to create a powerful poetic

art form. When Aneta meets Tahani, a

hearing Palestinian slam poet, the two

create a deaf/hearing duet in which

they explore their shared and personal

experiences and generate a new form of

slam poetry which speaks to the deaf as

well as the hearing.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

Wednesday, March 7

Studio Movie Grill at CityCentre

6:00 - 7:30 PM Happy Hour at the

Cinema Bar • 7:30 PM Screening

Created by Larry David

USA, Three 30 min. episodes

English

TV Series, Comedy

In this largely improvised series starring

himself, Seinfeld co-creator Larry David

shamelessly takes issue with frustrating

and frivolous social conventions. Always

landing himself in awkward situations,

David must negotiate how to get out

of them…or decide that they aren’t so

awkward after all. The three episodes

featured at HJFF will get you laughing at

David, at the convoluted yet familiar sce-

narios, and most importantly, at yourself.

Seating opens at 7:10 PM and is first-come, first-served.

Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler was one of the Jewish writers who dominated the

literary landscape in the latter half of the twentieth century. Richler, born to immigrant

parents and raised on Talmud, comic books, and tales of the old world, explored the

Jewish immigrant experience in the new world. His best known novels, The Appren-

ticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Barney’s Version, were made into award winning films.

This documentary features conversations with other outstanding literary voices, and

captures the personality of the man known as contrary and unpredictable, one of the

outstanding Jewish voices of the 20th century.

MORDECAI RICHLER:

THE LAST OF THE WILD JEWS

Wednesday, March 7 • 7:30 PM • 14 Pews


Directed by Francine Pelletier

Canada, 2010, 52 min.

English and French with English Subtitles

Documentary

FEATURING:Deaf Jam and Nicky’s Family

$8 Member/$10 PublicRSVP required w/ 24 hr. notice Call Esther Bethke at 713.729.3299 ext. 3258

Holy Mordechai! Dress up like your favorite Curb character for

Purim. Best costume wins a special prize!

8 t h A N N U A L H O U S T O N J E W I S H F I L M F E S T I V A L | | | M A R C H 6 – 1 8

DESIGNATED USED CHILDREN’S BOOKS DROP-OFF FILM

OPENING NIGHT FREE EVENT

LUNCH

MOVIEAND A

For Adults 65+

See erjcchouston.org/filmfest for details.

FOR 14 PEWS SCREENINGS

SPECIAL PRICES APPLY

PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE

Thursday, March 8 • 7:00 PM • MFAH

Introduced by Filmmaker Jonathan Lee

Sunday, March 11 • 1:00 PM • MFAH

Introduced by UH Professor Tony Hoagland

Directed by Jonathan Lee

USA, 2011, 89 min.

English

Documentary

Author of the legendary bestseller Grow-

ing Up Absurd, Paul Goodman (1911–1972)

was also a bisexual poet, family man,

pacifist, visionary, cofounder of Gestalt

therapy and a moral compass for many

in the burgeoning counterculture of the

1960s. Paul Goodman Changed My Life

immerses audiences in an era of high in-

tellect, when New York was peaking cul-

turally and artistically. Using a treasure

trove of archival multimedia, director/

producer Jonathan Lee and producer/

editor Kimberly Reed (Prodigal Sons)

have woven together a rich portrait of

an intellectual heavyweight whose ideas

are long overdue for rediscovery.

JOANNA

Thursday, March 8 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC


Directed by Feliks Falk

Poland, 2010, 105 min.

Polish with English Subtitles

Drama

In this tense and compelling film,

Joanna, a Polish piano teacher living

in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation,

waits in vain to hear from her husband

on the front line when she discovers

a young Jewish girl hiding in a church

after a round-up of Jews. At tremendous

risk to her own safety, Joanna hides

Roza in her home. Amidst the suspicions

of neighbors and Nazi officers, Joanna

faces difficult decisions and moral

choices if Roza is to survive.

Vienna, 1939: Jewish art dealer Victor and newly minted SS officer Rudi are childhood friends who find themselves on opposite sides

of the coming storm. With an international incident over a hidden original Michelangelo print at stake, Rudi, who has appropriated

Victor’s family estate and fiancée, must also secure Victor’s cooperation to ensure his own survival. Action-packed, full of twists,

turns, and reversals of fortune, My Best Enemy is a much welcomed first course that will have audiences on the edge of their seats

wanting more. —Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival

YOUNG ABRAHAM: FROM THE

ANCIENT STORIES OF THE

ISRAELITES

Sunday, March 11 • 11:00 AM • ERJCC

$4/person, $20 family max

Directed by Todd Shaffer

Canada, 2011, 48 min.

English

Animation

Written by two Chabad-Lubavitch

rabbis, this cutting-edge animated film

relates the story of Abraham and his

quest to prove that God is much more

than just stone idols. Spanning the first

75 years of the Jewish patriarch’s life,

Young Abraham is the perfect way to

teach children K-5 of the midrashim that

describe who Abraham was before he is

introduced to us in the Torah.



Every movie ticket at the MFAH gets you 10% off at Café Express

in the Museum. Make it ‘dinner and a movie’ on Saturday nights!

Did you know?

RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 5 - 10

DIRECTOR APPEARANCE

MY BEST ENEMY

(MEIN BESTER FEIND)

Saturday, March 10 • 8:00 PM • MFAH

Directed by Wolfgang Murnberger

Austria, Luxembourg, 2011, 109 min.

German with English Subtitles

Thriller© Aicholzer Film Production GMBTT/Petro Domenigg

SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY

Sunday, March 11 • 7:30 PM • HMH

Directed by John-Keith Wasson

USA, 2010, 65 min.

English

Documentary

Jutta Cords is a high school student in

Nazi Germany when she learns that her

maternal grandparents had converted

from Judaism to Christianity. Accord-

ingly, Jutta is considered Jewish, and

as such, is denied every opportunity

of a future. Jutta reconnects with her

childhood friend, Helmuth, who, upon his

return from the German front, becomes

involved in the Valkyrie plot to assas-

sinate Hitler. Jutta and Helmuth do their

best to maintain a romance while they

fight in the resistance alongside Jutta’s

parents who use their home as a safe

house. The documentary is narrated by

Jutta herself with original 8 mm footage

shot by Helmuth.

OTTO FRANK, FATHER OF ANNE

Monday, March 12 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC

Directed by David De Jongh

Netherlands, 2010, 75 min.

Dutch, English, German with English

Subtitles

Documentary

Dutch director David De Jongh’s docu-

mentary draws upon archival footage

and interviews to create a complex

portrait of Otto Frank, the father of Anne

Frank and the only family member to

survive the Holocaust. The film explores

Otto’s early years as an assimilated

German Jew, his obsession with main-

taining Anne’s memory, his correspon-

dence with young readers, and the zeal

to promote her diaries. De Jongh does

not ignore the controversies and ques-

tions surrounding editorial tinkering

with Anne’s diaries and their Hollywood

and Broadway adaptations in this well-

rounded portrait of a man whose grief

and pride inform his life’s work.

FREE MEN (LES HOMMES LIBRES)


Directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi

France, 2011, 99 min.

French with English Subtitles

Thriller

Set in 1942 in German-occupied Paris, Younes, a young Algerian immigrant, makes

his living on the black market. Tracked down by the German occupation forces, and

desirous of avoiding a jail sentence, he agrees to spy at the Paris Mosque, a meet-

ing ground for Muslim Resistance fighters whose activities include rescuing North

African Jews, providing false identity papers, and assassinating Vichy government

informers. There he befriends an Algerian cabaret singer involved in the Paris

underground whom he later discovers is a Jew. Slowly, Younes is transformed from a

politically ignorant black marketeer to a full-fledged freedom fighter.

Patron Sponsors: Graciela & Albert Handy

Patti & Dan Steiner

MARY LOU (TAMID OTO CHALOM)

Sunday, March 11 • 3:00 PM • MFAH

Directed by Eytan Fox

Israel, 2010, 150 min.

Hebrew with English Subtitles

Mini-Series, Musical

Following the trend of contemporary mu-

sicals like Glee, the made-for-Israeli-TV

series Mary Lou features a soundtrack

by Israeli pop star Svika Pick (who ap-

pears as himself). Acclaimed director

Eytan Fox (The Bubble, Walk on Water)

tells the story of a boy’s (Ido Rosenberg)

search for his wayward mother (Maya

Dagan, The Matchmaker) that eventually

leads him to a new identity in Tel Aviv:

as a drag queen named Mary Lou. The

TV series won Israel’s national award for

Best Miniseries in 2010.


LITTLE ROSE (RÓYŽCZKA)


Directed by Jan Kidawa-Błonski

Poland, 2010, 118 min.

Polish with English Subtitles

Thriller

1967 was the Summer of Love in the

United States; in the Soviet Bloc, the

yearnings for democracy played out

against political repression and heavy-

handed attempts to discourage such

yearnings. Once again, Jews were

scapegoats. In this thriller, Roman Rožek,

a Polish Security Service officer, enlists

his naïve girlfriend, code name “Little

Rose,” to spy upon and become the lover

of Warczewski, a professor, writer, and in-

tellectual believed to be a Zionist. Little

Rose begins to enjoy her role as a spy

and the refined experiences she enjoys

with Warczewski as opposed to the

crude pleasures of Rožek. As she starts

questioning her role and her loyalties,

the love triangle becomes ever more

dangerous: the totalitarian regime will

go to any lengths to protect its interests.

DOLPHIN BOY


Director Dani Menkin in Attendance

Directed by Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nir



Documentary

SRUGIM


Actor Amos Tamam in Attendance

Created by Eliezer (Laizy) Shapiro and

Chana Divon

Israel, Three 35 min. episodes from

Season 1 (2008)


TV Series, Dramedy

Just wrapping up its third season,

Srugim is one of Israel’s most popular

TV shows. Named after the knitted kip-

pah worn by Modern Orthodox men in

Israel, the series follows the lives of five

observant Jewish single men and women

in the Katamon neighborhood of Jeru-

salem. This well-educated, professionally

ambitious group of friends struggles to

find its place within the existing religious

frameworks, as the pressures of love,

marriage, and career are often at odds.

Sponsored by the Consulate General of

Israel to the Southwest

NICKY’S FAMILY


Directed by Matej Minác

Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2011,

96 min.

English

Documentary

In 1938, Nicholas Winton, a 20 year old

London stockbroker visiting Prague, or-

ganized a rescue of 669 Jewish children

in danger of deportation and arranged

for seven rail-sea transports of the

children. For more than half a century,

Winton did not speak of these events.

Had not his wife found a suitcase in their

attic filled with documents and transport

plans, the story would have remained

locked away. The children, now grown

and living all over the world, relate their

memories of the period to a background

of newsreel footage, archival photos,

and dramatic re-enactments of events

of the era. Sir Winton, now 102 years old,

was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and

nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for

his humanitarian work.

Dolphin Boy is a four-year study of Morad, an Arab teenager who is beaten and left for dead by his assailants. Israeli psychologist,

Ilan Kutz, an expert in post-traumatic disassociation, agrees to take on his case. When Morad awakens, he is unable to speak,

communicate or focus. His father quits his job and vows to devote himself to bringing Morad back from the near dead. As a last

resort, Dr. Kutz decides to relocate Morad to the Eilat Dolphin Habitat where Morad begins to swim, play and spend time with

dolphins. Initially non-responsive, as the months pass, we watch as Morad slowly emerges from the abyss as he responds to the

healing powers of nature and love.


$5@5:00! ALL FIVE O’CLOCK MOVIES ARE ONLYFIVE DOLLARS!

DIRECTOR APPEARANCE

ACTOR APPEARANCE


RESTORATION

(BOKER TOV ADON FIDELMAN)

Saturday, March 17 • 8:00 PM • MFAH

Directed by Joseph Madmony


Hebrew with English subtitles

Drama

Seventy-year-old Yaakov Fidelman (The

Band’s Visit’s Sasson Gabai) is thrown

into turmoil after the sudden death

of his long-time partner in a Tel Aviv

antiques restoration workshop. Just as

his ambitious son Noah pressures him to

sell the business and build an apartment

complex on the site, a talented new as-

sistant shows up, giving him hope. Anton

has many secrets, yet he forms a bond

with Yaakov that Noah finds as threat-

ening as the flirtation between his very

pregnant wife and Anton. A complex

character study that also displays great

reverence for a very traditional profes-

sion, the film’s title resonates on several

levels without providing easy answers.

The already dysfunctional Roshko household is thrown into further disarray when their autistic son and brother Tomer is sent home

from the suddenly closed institution in which he has been living. Miri, Tomer’s mother, is a preschool teacher having an affair with

the father of one of her students. Gidi, Tomer’s father, is a crop-duster who has been grounded for getting stoned. Yoni, Tomer’s

brother, who resents Tomer’s reappearance in the household, is selling his services completing homework assignments for his not so

intellectually gifted classmates while studying for his Bar Mitzvah portion—the story of Noah and the flood. Family pressures mount

as secrets emerge and impact the lives of family and community in this touching and sometimes comic film.

Closing Night Reception courtesy of Fleischer Wines

BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES

Sunday, March 18 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC

Producer Nina Hawn Zale in Attendance

Directed by Yonatan Nir

USA, 2011, 60 min.

English and Hebrew with English Subtitles

Documentary

For years photographer Nina Hawn Zale has

been volunteering her services for

Golshim L’Chaim-Ski to Live, and in 2011 she

engineered the making of a documentary

about the organization’s work. Beyond the

Boundaries follows several injured Israeli

veterans—some of whom are amputees—

who were invited by Golshim L’Chaim for

rehabilitative skiing in Aspen. Directed by

award winning Yonatan Nir (co-director of

Dolphin Boy) with Highlight Films Israel, the

film outlines the universal message of hope,

overcoming life’s challenges, and how ad-

versity opens the door for human potential.

Patron Sponsors:

Linda & Jerry Rubenstein

FRACTURE


Directed by Alain Tasma

France, 2011, 115 min.

French with English Subtitles

Drama

Anna, an idealistic young Jewish teacher,

embarks on her career at a junior high

school in a poor, immigrant, Parisian

neighborhood. Her students are angry

about their lack of opportunity, unin-

terested in education, belligerent, and

beset with financial, medical, and social

problems. One of her once-promising

students, Lakdar, is a talented artist left

without the use of his hand as a result of

a bungled medical procedure. His anger

is further fueled by his older brother,

a radicalized Muslim, who encourages

Lakdar to take revenge. Anna herself is

the victim of anti-Semitic slurs, and in

such an environment, her enthusiasm

and idealism begin to wane in this grim

but realistic chronicle of alienated im-

migrant youth.


PRODUCER APPEARANCE

THE FLOOD (MABUL)


Directed by Guy Nattiv



Drama

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! n

n

Each ticket purchase enters you into a raffle to win a gift card from

Sun & Ski Sports.

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INDIVIDUAL TICKETS:

All 5:00 PM Movies are $5.00

$8 ERJCC Member/Patron of the Arts & MFAH Member

$10 Public

$1 discount for students and seniors

FESTIVAL PASS

Free for MFAH Film Buffs and ERJCC Patrons of the Arts

who elect the Jewish Film Series

$50 ERJCC Member/Patron of the Arts & MFAH Member

$70 Public

$5 discount for students and seniors

wanna step it up?BECOME A REEL FAN OR CINEMATOGRAPHER

REEL FAN: $150 includes Festival Pass

CINEMATOGRAPHER: $250 includes Festival Pass

erjcchouston.org/filmfest


Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston

5601 South Braeswood Houston, TX 77096

713.551.7255 erjcchouston.org

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

1001 Bissonnet Street Houston, TX 77005

713.639.7515 mfah.org/film

Holocaust Museum Houston

Morgan Family Center

5401 Caroline Street Houston, TX 77004

713.942.8000 hmh.org

Studio Movie Grill at CityCentre

805 Town and Country Ln., Houston, TX 77024

713.461.4449 studiomoviegrill.com

14 Pews

800 Aurora St., Houston, TX 77009

281.888.9677 14pews.com

SUPPORTERS

TICKETS VENUES

Official Hotel of the ERJCC

Lillian Kaiser Lewis Foundation

8 Eat at Café at the J during HJFF! The Café is open

until 7:30 PM every night of an ERJCC screening.

The Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest

Fleischer Wines

The Jewish Herald-Voice

June & Leonard Goldberg

Sun & Ski Sports

erjcchouston.org/filmfest

NURTURE:

Stories of New

Midlife Mothers

Curated by Cyma

Shapiro

Feb. 28 – Apr. 18

Cyma Shapiro collected stories from

women across the country who chose

motherhood after 40. Comprised of

dramatic black and white photographs

and transcribed words, Nurture cel-

ebrates the lives of women who became

new older mothers through IVF, natural

childbirth, adoption, fostering, guardian-

ship, surrogacy and blending stepfami-

lies. Shapiro’s website, www.MidlifeMoth-

ers.org, is dedicated to promoting the

advancement of new midlife mothers

through voice, face and forum. This ex-

hibit is the first of its kind in the country.

Photographs were taken by Shana Sureck and Tracy Cianflone.

Motherhood after 40:

A Conversation

Thursday, March 22

7:30 PM

FREE

Join Elizabeth Gregory, author of Ready:

Why Women Are Embracing the New

Later Motherhood and UH professor, as

she moderates a panel of midlife moth-

ers. Whether through adoption, surroga-

cy, or natural conception, these women

are part of a growing trend of becoming

mothers at a later age. Hear firsthand

about their experiences and how their

lives redefine the traditional patterns of

motherhood and women’s work.

DR. STEPHEN BERK

LECTURES

THE LAST CENTURY THAT SHATTERED THE WORLD

AND TRANSFORMED THE JEWISH PEOPLE

The Last Century that Shattered the World and Transformed the Jewish People

Dr. Stephen Berk is the Henry and Sally Schaffer Chair in Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Dr. Berk has published and lectured extensively on the intersection of Judaism and modernity, particularly in the fields of Holocaust Studies, anti-Semitism, the American Jewish experience, Soviet and Eastern European Jewry and Jewish/African-American relations. He has been a visiting professor at Williams College, Bennington College, and the State University of New York.

$10 Member / $15 Public (per lecture)$27 Member / $36 Public (series pass)

Roosevelt and the JewsThursday, March 29 • 7:30 PMThis lecture will explore the motivations behind Roosevelt’s policies during the Second World War and how his action or inaction affected the Jewish community during this dark time in human history.

Three Who Made Israel: Weizmann, Ben Gurion and BeginThursday, Apr. 26 • 7:30 PMThis lecture will consider how these early statesmen both created the first modern, Jewish state and changed the socio-political reality of the Middle East and the world post the Second World War.

Steven Spielberg in HistoryThursday, May 24 • 7:30 PM This lecture will explore how three of Spielberg’s films: Schindler’s List, Amistad

and Saving Private Ryan can be used as a valuable window into modern history and how these films changed the world’s perception of the modern Jewish experience.

Center for Jewish Living and Learning Scholar Series

THESE LECTURES ARE MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY A GRANT FROM HUMANITIES TEXAS, A STATE PARTNER OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES.

Maimonides on the Issues

of Our Times

Instructor:

Amy D. Goldstein

Four Wednesdays

Beginning May 9

7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

$36 Member/$45 Public

One of Judaism’s greatest thinkers,

Moses Maimonides, addressed the most

pressing issues of his own times for Jews

- many of which reflect concerns today.

His life experience and writings included

addressing the challenge of radical Islam,

conversion, women’s issues, anti-Semi-

tism, interfaith relations, secular versus

religious education, Jewish communal

responsibility and medical ethics. We will

explore these and other related topics in

Maimonides’ writings such as his Mishneh

Torah, Guide for the Perplexed, various

letters and other writings.

Amy D. Goldstein holds a Masters in Jewish

Cultural History specializing in Sephardic Jewry

from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she

pursued her doctoral studies. For more than 20

years she applied this knowledge while working

for such organizations as Hadassah, AIPAC, the

Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith Interna-

tional - all the while teaching about the history

and culture of the Jewish people.

For further information or to register for

classes, lectures and programs contact

Nomi Barancik at 713.729.3200, ext. 3288

or at [email protected]

The Menorah at the

Alamo? Unlocking the

Myths and Secrets of

Jewish Identities in the

Americas

Instructor:

Dr. Marie-Theresa Hernandez

Two Wednesdays, April 25 and May 2

7:30 – 8:30 PM

$18 Members/$22 Public

The idea of secret Jews in the southwest

United States is an intriguing subject

that has captivated readers for the past

two decades. In this course, narratives

surrounding the idea of hidden Jews

that came to the Americas from Spain

after 1492 will be discussed and analyzed,

including a story about two menorahs

located in the Alamo museum. The

Mexican colonial period will be presented

as well as present day explorations of

American families who attest to having

a secret Jewish heritage that dates to

Sephardic Spain.

Marie-Theresa Hernandez is Chair of the

University of Houston Jewish Studies

Initiative, as well as undergraduate

director of the World Cultures and

Literatures Program.

J Teen Art Scene: Showcase for e(art)h

Sunday, Apr. 22

3rd Annual Teen Visual Art Exhibition

April 22 – June 1

For the 3rd year, the ERJCC Deutser

Art Gallery will exhibit original works by

local Jewish teenagers. This year, the ex-

hibit will open with the J Teen Art Scene:

Showcase for (e)ART(H), an all-day arts

festival showcasing teenage artistic

talents across many platforms.

Now accepting submissions in several

arts categories until Monday, March 19.

For more information visit jtas.weebly.com.

Purim Flour Frenzy

Sunday, March 4 • 3:00 PM

Advance: $10 ERJCC Member Family /

$12 Public Family

At the Door: $12 ERJCC Member Family /

$14 Public Family

Why dirty your kitchen when you can

have fun in ours? Join us to make

hamantachen from scratch and decorate

your own Purim Megillah for the upcom-

ing holiday. Flour will be everywhere,

but your family will take home a dozen

hand-made hamantaschen that just need

a few minutes in the oven.

Cuba: A Jewish Mission

March 7 – 15, 2012

$2999 per person

(double occupancy)*

Join us on this extraordinary mission

to Cuba and bring support and aid to

the Cuban Jewish community. Meet

the children of the ORT Sunday School

and advance Jewish practices, ideals

and education. Learn first-hand about

today’s Jewish community and share

their dreams for the future. The spirit

of the Jewish community will open your

eyes, heart and mind.

Chai Cotton: Jewish Life in Mississippi

Thursday, May 3 – Sunday, May 6

On this four-day, three-night trip, co-

sponsored by the Texas Jewish Historical

Society and the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish

Community Center, you will learn about the

history of Jews in this deepest of southern

states. We will visit Mississippi’s oldest

Jewish congregation in Natchez, touring its

beautiful and historic synagogue, spending

Shabbat with a small congregation in the

Mississippi Delta region, birthplace of the

blues. We will also visit the state’s largest

Jewish community, Jackson, and receive

a guided tour of Jewish sites in the city. In

addition, we will also explore the history of

the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement,

the state-of-the-art B.B. King Blues Museum

in Indianola, the Civil War Battlefield in

Vicksburg, as well as antebellum plantation

homes in Natchez.

Led by Dr. Stuart Rockoff, director of the

History Department at the Goldring/

Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

The Book was Better: Jewish

Literature from Stage to Screen

Instructor: Dr. Melissa Weininger, Post-

Doctoral Fellow in the Jewish Studies

Program at Rice University

Five Mondays Beginning March 19

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

$45 Member/$60 Public

Since the inception of modern cinema,

literature has always been a potent

source of ideas, stories, and themes

for the big screen. Jewish literature in

all its varieties has also spawned many

cinematic adaptations. In this course we

will take a closer look at five different

works of Jewish literature – originally

written in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English

– and their film versions. We will discuss

both the themes and ideas raised by the

literature itself and the similarities and

differences between the texts and the

films; with special attention to the way

that historical context affects cultural

productions.

Melissa Weininger is currently a Post-

doctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies at

Rice University. She received her Ph.D.

in 2010 from The University of Chicago.

Her areas of scholarly interest include

modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature,

gender studies, and Jewish nationalism.

TRAVEL

This two part series is in collaboration with the Jewish Studies Initiative of the University of Houston.

litera

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film

art

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Summer/Spring 2012

8thAnnual

submerge

yourself in the 8th annual houston jew

ish film

festival

MA

RC

H 6

- 18

Nonprofit Org.

U.S. Postage

P A I DHouston, Texas

Permit No. 6217

EVELYN RUBENSTEIN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER5601 S. Braeswood | Houston, TX 77096erjcchouston.org

CLOS

ING

NIGH

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MARCH 6 - 18

8thAnnual

OPENING NIGHT

THE FLOOD (MABUL)


Directed by Guy Nattiv



Drama

KADDISH FOR A FRIEND

(KADDISCH FÜR EINEN FREUND)



Directed by Leo Khasin

Germany, 2011, 94 min.

Arabic, German, Russian with English Subtitles

Drama

center for jewish living and learning brochure spring 2012

Documents

erjcc of houston

age film

jewish life

palestinian family

stories of jewish significance

alis family

nickys family

american sign language